During a public hearing at the European Parliament’s transport committee on Wednesday 22 November, stakeholders from throughout Europe expressed a number of different points of view regarding the European Commission’s social proposals contained within the “mobility” package.
The proposals put forward by the European Commission on 31 May as part of the mobility package (see EUROPE 11799) have been the subject of heated debates at both the European Parliament (see EUROPE 11811) and Council of the European Union (see EUROPE 11804). These divisions, however, are also very pronounced between social partners, especially with regard to questions involving posted workers and cabotage. In addition to the customary division between trade unions and employers, geographical and national interests also constitute another area of division.
Florence Berthelot, the Deputy Secretary-General for the Fédération nationale des transports routiers (France), Roberto Parrillo, President of the “road transport” department of the European Transport Workers Federation and Jan Villadsen, the President of 3F Transport, a Danish trade union, therefore expressed their opposition to the current differences in labour costs throughout the European Union, which are the cause of inequality and social dumping, to the disadvantage of workers in countries where wage and social standards are higher. They therefore appealed for proposals that provide more protection. Mr Villadsen is suggesting that the three-day threshold from which a worker should, according to the text presented by the Commission, see the salary of the state in which he is carrying out his working activity be applied or in other words, from the moment the road transport worker leaves their country of origin.
Ferenc Lajkó, however, the CEO of the Hungarian Waberer’s International transport company, Pedro Polonió, the Vice President of the National Road Hauliers Association in Portugal and Przemysław Borkowski, professor at the University of Gdansk, took a position in favour of greater market liberalisation. Mr Borkowski explained that if the rules proposed were adopted, it would have a significantly negative impact on Polish transport companies. Mr Lajkó is advocating that an unlimited number of cabotage operations are authorised over a ten-day period, as opposed to the five-day period proposed by the Commission.
Smart tachograph key factor in discussions. In addition to the rules proposed by the Commission, one point crystallising tension since the presentation of the first “mobility” package involves controls of these rules. Gerard Schipper, the Secretary General of Euro Control Route, and Mr Parrillo, were therefore quick to point out that 30% of international transport operations and cabotage were currently the subject of fraudulent practices in several areas (wages, driving time, period of time spent in the country, etc.). They therefore called (similarly to Mr Villadsen) for an obligation to equip heavy duty vehicles with smart tachographs as soon as possible. Under the terms of the proposal, however, the entirety of the European vehicle fleet will not be affected until 2034.
Mr Parrillo went even further on the question of controls and advocated the setting up of a European agency, which would focus on this task. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)